The Windsor Lancers men's hockey team got the 2019 portion of their season started Friday evening in Waterloo taking on the Laurier Golden Hawks. After a slow first and second period, the Lancers took control of the game to pick up a crucial win to start the year, downing the Golden Hawks 3-0.
 
The win moves the Lancers one game up on the Hawks in the west division standings. Windsor is now 8-9-0 on the year, while the hosts fall to 7-10-0.  
 
GAME STATS
Lancer goalie Johnathan Reinhart recorded a 14 save shut out. Laurier's Tyler Fassle stopped 21 of his 24 shots.
 
Defenseman Cody Gagnon and Josh Slegers each had great days working the offensive blue line, picking up two assists each.
 
Both teams were disciplined, with neither team being assessed a penalty. This is just the second game in the OUA this season that has been penalty free. The first came on December 1, 2018 between the Waterloo Warriors and Toronto Varsity Blues. 
 
GAME FLOW
The Lancers came out strong on the defensive end in the first period protecting goaltender and keeping the Golden Hawks off the board. The Windsor offense also created their own opportunities, yet Laurier's goaltender was up the task.
 
After a rough and tumble 39 minutes and 59 seconds, the Lancers opened the scoring when Ethan Skinner put the puck away with one second left in the second period to put the Lancers up 1-0 heading into the final period.
 
In the third period, the Lancers attacked picked up steam, clearly riding the momentum of the late second period goal. Windsor worked hard to get bodies in front of the net and the strategy paid off when Connor Logan was able to slam a rebound home to extend the Lancer lead. Not long after, Kyle Hope was the beneficiary of a beautiful pass from Josh Slegers to put the visitors up three.
 
UP NEXT
Up next the Lancers stay in Waterloo to play the second leg of a two game series with the Golden Hawks. action gets underway Saturday at 7:07pm and as always, is streamed live at OUA.tv.